Satellite Spotlight – Tampa
After the chaotic night at Raymond James Stadium, there was a lot of satellite/ non factory riders that performed well in Tampa, but you may not have noticed. Let’s dive into the teams and riders that performed well over the weekend.
The Quadlock Honda Racing team will be leaving Tampa in good spirits, after having their three riders finish inside the top ten, in both the 450SX and 250SX East main events. Joey Savatgy’s 7th place finish was the best of his season. Savatgy’s jump to the premier class in 2019 has been a turbulent transition, riding for various teams and manufacturers in this time and even missing the 2024 supercross season, to prepare to race a 250 outdoors. Good ride for Joey.
Teammate Shane McElrath has also had his share of issues since moving up to the 450’s. In Tampa, McElrath crossed the line in 10th place but was later bumped up to 9th position, after Justin Hill was docked one position. Not only was the 9th place his best of the season, but his riding throughout the day was also much improved, finishing 4th in his heat and overall being a little more ‘spicy’.
Carson Mumford returned to supercross with a 10th. Returning from a nasty leg break in Texas last year, Mumford was fast all day and had a great showing in the deep 250SX East field.
Anthony Rodriguez made it back-to-back 450SX main events, for the first time of his career. A-Rod took the fourth and final transfer spot in the LCQ and finished 14th in the main event. That’s a solid showing for the Rides Unlimited Racing rider, building on the momentum he created at last weekend’s Triple Crown in Glendale. This is now the fourth premier class main event, A-Rod has qualified for.
Partzilla PRMX Racing Team had two of their three riders in the main event. Mitchell Harrison qualified directly to the main, finishing 9th in his heat, and having his best ride of the season so far, finishing in 16th.
Jack Chambers returned from his two-year hiatus racing the MX2 World Championship and looked fast all day. 19th overall for Chambers in 250SX East.
Cade Clason unfortunately crashed hard in the whoops during the day, breaking his wrist. He is set to have surgery this week.
Justin Starling qualified for his first main event of the season, and no better place than his hometown race. Qualifying directly to the main event after finishing 6th in 450SX heat one, Starling had a solid ride in the main finishing out in 18th. After only qualifying for one main event last season, the #122 is determined to use the Tampa result as a springboard for the remainder of the season.
Jeremy Hand and Tristan Lane qualified for their first mains of the season! Both transferring directly from 450SX heat one, their main event was hindered by a racing incident when being lapped by Ken Roczen. Hand had come together with Roczen entering the sand section, which ejected Kenny off his motorcycle, taking out Lane in the process. Although the main event didn’t go as they would have hoped, it is impressive to see both qualify from their heat races, good job!
Phoenix Racing Honda rider Cullin Park was the top scoring ‘non factory’ rider, in the 250SX East main event, finishing in 7th (tying his career best). The depth of the east coast is remarkable, making Park’s 7th place even more impressive. Good results should not be a shock to anyone, Cullin is a massively underrated rider. Keep your eye out for the #59 for the rest of the season. The other 250 pilot on the team, Nick Romano, injured his knee in qualifying, ruling him out for the night show.
The Dirt Bike Depot team had one rider in the main event, in Gage Linville. Coming off a solid 2024 supercross campaign, where he qualified for seven main events, Linville got off to a good start in his 2025 campaign, finishing in 12th place in the main event. If rumours are true, look to see the #75 aboard a factory Triumph in the coming weeks.
#75 Gage Linville
Chilean Hardy Munoz had a solid opening round in Tampa, qualifying for the main even from his heat race and finishing in 13th place in the main event.
Lance Kobusch had a career best ride in the main event, finishing in 14th, good ride for Lance!
Shout out to Luke Neese and Trevor Colip, for qualifying for the first round of the east season, great work from both!
Stay tuned for next weekends edition of satellite spotlight, where we will unpack the top performers of the non-factory riders, from Detroit.
Images courtesy of @courseheading
- Edward Heather (@edward_heather on Instagram)
